Illumina launches its first semiconductor instrument for DNA, RNA sequencing

 Illumina, Inc. announced today the launch of the iSeq™ 100 Sequencing System. The new, next-generation sequencing (NGS) system delivers exceptional data accuracy, at a low capital cost, making Illumina technology available to virtually any lab. The combination of the company’s proven sequencing by synthesis (SBS) chemistry, along with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detection technology, represents an entirely different configuration that delivers highly accurate data at substantially lower capital costs. The iSeq 100 is the first system with this architecture and has a U.S. list price of $19,900.

Measuring one cubic foot in size, the iSeq 100 delivers NGS discovery power in the most compact format of any Illumina sequencer to date. The iSeq 100 represents another step toward establishing NGS as a standard for discovery research and routine genomic testing for a wide range of customers, markets and applications.

“For under $20,000, any researcher can have access to the accuracy of an Illumina sequencer in their lab,” said Francis deSouza, President and Chief Executive Officer at Illumina. “The iSeq 100 offers robustness and reliability for a broad range of applications ranging from germline and somatic tumor profiling to 16S microbial analysis and targeted gene expression.”

“The addition of the iSeq 100 has great potential to transform infectious disease surveillance,” said Dr. Pardis Sabeti, Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Broad Institute Member. “We anticipate that our lab researchers will use it to focus on infectious disease monitoring. We have seen examples of how Illumina benchtop systems, like the MiSeq, were instrumental in understanding and addressing disease outbreaks. We believe the accuracy of the iSeq 100, coupled with the low cost and small footprint, will allow us to introduce NGS capability where it is needed most.”

Illumina will continue to develop the iSeq architecture further expanding output and reducing run time. These future improvements will open new markets and applications, such as rapid microbiome sequencing, testing for foodborne pathogens and monitoring hospital acquired infections.

Source – BusinessWire